Merry Christmas Everyone!

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It's been crazy busy!

Life has been so busy that I haven't kept up on blogging so this is a quick run down of what's been going on.
A few weeks ago Jack decided to lock himself in the Yukon with the keys inside. It basically happened like this. Josh said he would get Jack (first mistake) he unbuckled himself and then Jack. Shut the door to go around the Yukon to get Jack out. Jack jumped in the front seat and hit the lock button. Argh! Anyway, we had 2 patrol officers here helping me get into the vehicle. It was quite hilarious. Jack pretended to drive as he chewed my gum smiling and laughing. It took us about an hour to get him out. Jack thought he was pretty cool.



We just baptized Joshua. It was so great. My mom and dad came down from Idaho and it also happened to be the same weekend that John's mom and sister were in town. It was quite the treat.
While Aunt Kathy was here she helped the kids use stencils to carve pumpkins. Thanks Aunt Kathy for your patience. The kids had a blast.

Kimbri just finished competing in her Medal Finals Jumping show. She's been saying all summer that she was going to win the Medal Finals this year and she did it. She won first place and Championship. It was sooooooo awesome seeing her hard work pay off. I'll post a picture of her with her awards as soon as I get them.

Xango is getting ready to launch an all natural, non-toxic, non-chemical anti-aging, anti-ance, fine line reducer skin care so I was able to take a long weekend and go to Buffalo, NY for some training. I was able to go see Niagra Falls while I was there. It was pretty spectacular. I had a great time and it was a nice break. Can't wait for the skin care. WooooHooooo!!!!!

Josh just finished soccer with a great season, Logan is close to finishing up football, and Kimbri has her last softball game tonight. WoooooHooooo. I thought it would never end. She's just started her pitching clinic that goes for the next 3 months. It's so awesome to see her continued improvements.Logan just purchased himself a shotgun. He's been like a little kid at Christmas time. He and John went out to shoot clay pigeons and he's been hunting doves and rabbits with friends. Last weekend he and I went up to Idaho so he could hunt ducks with Grandpa Jerry. They had so much fun. Logan everyday has tried to figure out away to get back up there. He keeps saying, "Grandpa Jerry is awesome, I love hanging out with him." They shot 10 ducks and Logan's coach is getting it stuffed for him. He's pretty excited. Grandpa also gave him a 22. Logan is pretty pumped.

That about raps everything up in a nut shell. I guess if I've left anything out I'll blog it later.

Back To School

I told them to put on an angry face.
I didn't know that Josh could look so evil.

I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by. August 21st was the first day back to school. I have to admit it's the first time that I haven't been all that excited about the kids going back. I'm ready because we need structure back into our life which is almost non exsistant in the summer, but I'm not ready to be home all day long with Jack. ;)

The kids have been such great help this summer in giving me some down time so that I would'nt fall off the deep end. :) Anyway, I obviously don't control the universe so I can't make time go back.

The kids were super excited for school, I'm not sure what that means. Are they really excited or are they just tired of me giving them orders all day long. hmmmmm? I'll have to ponder that one.

I'm excited to announce that Jack and I survived our first day home together so I'm pretty sure everything will go smoothly from here on out.

Enjoy the pictures of the kids in their new attire for school.

Logan is an 8th grader this year. King of the school.
Jr. High is 7th & 8th grade.
His shoe size this year is 11 1/2-12 depending on the shoe. BIG FOOT!
I can see into the future that he's going to break many hearts.

Kimbri is in 6th grade this year.
It's her last year at Stansbury Elementary.
She's really excited that her class gets lap top computers . Joshua is in 2nd grade this year.
What a cutie.

Soft Ball Mania

WOW! The last 2 weekends have been a tournament rollercoaster. Two weekends ago Kimbri's team the Grantsville Country Girls played in the Kaysville All Star Tournament. We started on Friday playing 2 games and we won them both so we were able to go home. On Saturday we won our first game and then lost our 2nd game putting us into the losers bracket. UGH! We then played 6 games total that day making a major comeback to place in 2nd. It was awesome.

Keep in mind we played our first game at 9:15 having to be there at 8:15 and finished our last game at 10:30pm. Talk about a long day. Grandpa and Grandma Williams drove down for the weekend to watch her play, they were troopers sitting in the heat all day. John left early to take Jack home and I offered Grandpa a way out of having to watch more softball but each game was as intense as the next and it was just too exciting to leave. I think they enjoyed themselves. It was cool over hearing Grandpa telling several people that his grand-daughter was the pitcher.

I think I ended up with a few gray hairs considering Kimbri pitched 5 of the 6 games on Saturday. She was awesome. I don't know how she stays so level headed, she's amazing to me. We were all mentally exhausted by the time it was all said and done. Kimbri on the other hand was sore for a few days after from pitching so many games.

Last weekend we played in a West Valley Tournament. It wasn't as dramatic as the last one. I don't know how to explain it but it was a weird tournament. The pitching was awful the first 2 days so the majority of scoring was done via walks. That makes for a long boring game. We also had the umpire from scaryville. I believe that it's her goal to get up each day and make everyone around her miserable. I've never met someone that was so easy to dislike. Anyway, after all the weird things we ended up once again in 2nd place. WoooHoooo!

I guess we're playing fall ball which means 4 more weeks left. (didn't I say that softball would not run our life? I'm sure that's what I said) You know me, there isn't anything I enjoy more than watching my kids compete in sports.

We've been busy!

Kimbri made the Softball All Star team this year. She's the main pitcher but also plays 1st base or short stop. She had a 3 day tournament 2 weeks ago and they ended up in 3rd place. YEAH! It was so much fun to see their determination and confidence grow as they played each game.

She's having a lot of fun and really likes the girls she's playing with. She's working really hard to improve her pitching. The last 2 games of the tournament she pitched both games without a break and did an awesome job. She practices for an hour on her pitching before her 2 1/2 hour practices with her team. I would call that dedicated. It's fun to see her improving.

Summer is going by way too quickly. We realized that except for Lake Powell we hadn't gotten our boat on the water. We decided to run up to Jordanelle reservoir and stay at the Still Water Lodge. It was a great get away. We boated for a few hours and then we played in the pool. We then had a little drama take place. First, John jumped in the pool with his cell phone and then Jack decided to sacrifice Logan's cell phone to the great swimming pool king as well. It's just not fair! I'm the one with the cell phone that is duct taped together. I guess I should have given mine to Jack as well.

Later, Logan and John went fishing and John caught a fish as well as his finger. I wasn't there but the story was pretty dramatic. John got the hook and the barb in his finger. Once they got the fish off the hook they cut 2 of the hooks off and then John ripped the barb out of his finger. OUCH! I guess Logan asked John if he wanted to go back to the lodge and John said "no, let's keep fishing" Logan then said, "way to be tough dad." Gotta Love it!

Last weekend my brother Chad and his family came and spent 2 nights with us and we went school shopping. It was sooooo much fun. We scored on some major bargains. Thank goodness Aunt Lataun was there because she must be WAY cooler than me, Logan wanted her input on everything. Thanks Taun you cool thing you! It sure feels great to be done with the shopping.

Logan started football practice just in time to leave for Scout Camp. The first week of football is what they call "Hell week" anyway, Logan was pretty excited that he was going to be at scout camp for "Hell week" he quickly learned that they were going to have the 2nd week be "Hell week" instead. HA! poor baby!

Can't believe football has started, Josh starts soccer soon, and Kimbri has 2 softball tournaments left before school starts. Can it be any crazier!!!!!! :)

Last Stealth tournament of the Season

Thank you, thank you, I know it's impressive that I finally took my camera to the last tournament of the year. ;)

Logan has been playing on the Stealth, which is a super league baseball team for 4 years now (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) It's one of the funnest things that Logan is involved in. It takes a lot of time with practices, games every Saturday and tournaments in the state of Utah and Idaho but it's worth it. The boys have become great friends and they continue to improve each year.

Thanks to the incredible coaching staff or the team wouldn't even be. Steve Branch, Collin Smith, Thom Pronk, and Kevin Hamatake. They put a lot of time and energy not to mention miles on their vehicles. They are a great example to our boys and they have no idea how much they are appreciated.

They ended their year winning as many games as they lost. I believe there is baseball terminology for a record like that. ;) Anyway, that was their goal for the season and they accomplished it. WoooHoooo!

Logan is always sad when the season ends. They have 1 year left to play together and then they will split off to their high schools. What a great experience this is for them and the memories that come with it.

I was able to get some pictures of the families that are involved and the kinds of things that take place at the tournaments. Enjoy! (I warned all of you that you would be blogged)

Head Coach Steve Branch
Look at the posture on this guy, and he claims to have back pain. hmmmm

Coach Collin Smith
(I have a picture of his better end, that will be highlighted in the next blog :))

Coach Thom Pronk, (aka Twinkle Toes)

He's in protective custody and can't give us his real name

Coach Kevin Hamatake
Was there a back ground check done on this guy? I'm sure I've seen his wanted poster ;)

In between games everyone finds a way to chill out.
I believe that Greg was crowned king of hacky sack.

This is the kind of team work that goes on behind the scenes.

The May family enjoying the competition.

Here are some shady fellows. They let all kinds attend these events.
They didn't seem to understand what I meant by "say cheese"

Cory was really confused, he must have thought I said "I'm going to say cheese."

I have chosen not to comment on this lovely photo, it speaks so many things.

Heather Landon hanging in the shade providing treats to the kids.

Coach Branch giving the boys great wisdom
"I told you not to talk to your mother like that again!"

They all look forward to signing each other 's balls at the end of the year.
(Don't know how else to say it. ha)

Until next year boys and what a great season they had!
(Football starts the end of July, what the heck????)

Logan gets to make my bed for a week.

Logan and I occasionally get to go golfing together. We're both very competitive and we always bet money but we never pay up. (what kind of mother am I?) So today's wager was whoever loses gets to make the other's bed for the next week.

My first hit was so bad off the tee that I intentionally ran over my ball with the cart to show it who was boss. I thought Logan was going to die laughing. I enjoy golfing and I believe I could compete in the LPGA with a bit more practice. :) HA!
Needless to say I golfed so crappy today and I've decided to attribute that to the fact that the course was very wet. For example, on one hole I hit a beauty off the tee and then right in the middle of the fairway I swear I heard my ball go "plop". I thought about complaining to the guy working but decided to just tell him about it when I got home. (I did tell him and he assured me that it had nothing to do with the way I hit that little bitty ball. The Nerve of Him!) The next hole I hit right into the sand pit and again I swear I heard my ball go "plop". So you can understand how I can blame the course for my play.

Logan on the other hand told me that I was setting a bad example by cursing each time after I hit. I just kept lifting my head and @!#&* it, that's something to curse about. :) Logan struggled as well considering he lost 8 balls to the great weed and water King today.

All in all it was a great day of golf, we always have fun and laugh the whole time. Did I mention that I beat him by 2 strokes so he has the honor of making my bed everyday for the next week? That's what I call a successful day. :)

I need to give a big shout out to all Logan's friends that texted him the whole time. Many times while he was on his down swing it seemed he got a text and it helped me drastically. (Thanks Steve for having my back. :) )

"Mom, what kind of bandaid is this?"

I had a chuckle the other day I thought I would share. I was busy working on the computer and Josh scratched his leg and it was bleeding. Keep in mind he is almost 8. Anyway,
he asked for a bandaid and of course I was too busy to get it for him and told him to get one on his own. A few minutes later he shows up and says "Mom, how does this bandaid work, its the only one left?" I turned from the computer and in his hand he held a panty liner. Ha, ha, ha. It was so funny. I tried not to make a big deal out of it. I said, "Josh, that is not a bandaid." He said, "What is it?" I said, "It's for girls." and although I'm certain he doesn't understand he started to blush and he said, "Oh, I'll go look again." Needless to say the second round he found a bandaid. It was quite hilarious.

Lake Powell 2008

We just returned from Lake Powell and we had a great trip. My brother Chad and his family went , their friends Monte and Sandra. My mom and dad, and my brother Tagg and his wife. We stayed in Page, AZ again. It was cooler this year which is par for the weather everywhere. It was windier and the water was cooler. I think we've decided next time to go later in the summer.

The defining moments that come to mind are......
* Kimbri got up on the knee board and ski's for the very first time. And she liked it. Woohoo Kimbri!
* Having 1 on 1 time with Kimbri while we rode the tube for 30 miles back from Rainbow Bridge. We sang songs, told stories......probably the highlight of the trip for me.
* Sitting by the pool at night telling stories. Thanks to Tagg for the unforgettable crow story. (He'll never live it down).
* Everyone jumping off the rock doing a "crow tribute" to Tagg at the same time. HA, HA, HA, I'm still chuckling about that.
* Chad mocking John about last year not being able to speak after eating the hot wings and then sounding like a bubbling idiot himself this year. (what comes around goes around)
* Chad running out of gas returning from Rainbow Bridge
* We lost a towel and our flag while John and I had the top down going really really fast. It was awesome.
* We got our ski rope caught in the impeller and had to cut it off. Thanks to Grandpa for having his leatherman handy.
* I jumped off the cliffs this year more than once, the peer pressure was just too much, I had to do it. (dang competitive Williams blood)
* Grandma water skiing, will it be the last time????
* Lataun and I taking what we thought was a leisurely ride on the tube. What were we thinking riding behind the speed monster? John creamed us in front of everyone, we bailed big time and both our shorts came off. HA! It's revenge time Taun.

It was a great trip, thanks for arranging it Penny. (now why wasn't she there??????)

Enjoy some fun photos.This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. Priceless!

Grandma said she liked the tube but she always had a look of desperation.

Jack preferred being on the boat, he was not to fond of the water until the very last day.
Each day it got warmer.

Cowabunga!!!

I think they've been ship wrecked,
Ya can't get any more dramatic than this.

The Famous Five

Joshua getting in on the jumping action.
Did he get that nose plug thing from Aunt Lataun?

Although Josh appears to be having fun, this is really a look of terror. He doesn't like to tube. We were sitting there after going fast and he goes "ah, this is perfect." I said, "Josh we aren't even moving." He never did decide it was fun.
"Feet first? Bahumbug! I raised a bunch of cowards."
Go Grandpa, it's your birthday, go Grandpa

"I think I read somewhere this is dangerous, quick I need an excuse to get off of here"
I think he has been labeled a "scaredy cat" something to that effect.

Jack deciding John's driving just wasn't good enough so he took over.

Kimbri and Sis hanging on for dear life. (Is John driving that boat?)